Alyson-Article

How Mental Illness Is Romanticized

We live in a world where people don’t understand the concept of Mental Illness. From Millennials writing songs about being depressed to teenagers (now) listening to these songs and start to diagnose them selves and people around them.

Teenagers now think being depressed is considered a “trend”, I admit to doing this. Every day I see someone I know post a quote about how depressed they are on their Instagram story. I don’t know if they are doing it for fun or if it’s a “cry for help”. Most people don’t understand that depression is a real illness and that there are actual treatments for it. As a class group my friends and I used social media to get peoples opinion on how depression is becoming a trend now. Most people said yes because “people mistake being sad and having depression as the same” and “gain popularity”. this shows that people go online and say they are depressed for attention.

When people self-harm they say it brings “relief” or “makes things easier for them”. Self-harm is a very dangerous thing. I’ve personally seen people post pictures of them cutting themselves and I message/call the asking “what happened?! Are u okay??” but they reply saying “oh I was just really upset about something but I’m okay now”. when I was in the 6th grade there were many people in my class who self-harmed and they purposely show up to school with their selves rolled up so everyone can see and everyone said “oh she did it for attention…it’s okay she is not really depressed let’s just leave her alone”. Now I think that if someone goes to an extent where the “cut them-selves” just to get people to talk to them is wrong. if you know someone who does that, depressed or not depressed you need to call for help.

I spoke to someone who had depression (now in recovery) she said “ if you keep thinking that people are saying they’re depressed for clout, then if they have suicidal tendencies but no one takes them seriously, you get a dead kid” no matter how hard you try to disagree with this at the end of the day this person has a point. We don’t take things seriously anymore, back then people were afraid to open up about such things but now we live in a much open and somewhat understanding community and people can freely express their thoughts and feelings but we chose to ignore them, and they have no choice but self-inflict themselves.

According to ‘the guardian.com’: From 2005-15, cases of depressive illness increased by nearly a fifth. People born after 1945 are 10 times more likely to have depression.

After 1945 people lived in a constant fear of another war. They had no hope. People couldn’t find a reason to be happy anymore they knew at one point they were going to die either from a gun-shot or a nuclear warhead. How can u find peace if the world is currently going through a dark phase?

we also conducted an interview in the mall where we asked people if they would wear a shirt that says “my anxieties have anxieties” majority of the people said no because it’s wrong and it mocks mental illness.

Although, some people said yes because in a way it spreads awareness, they also said that celebrities talking about themselves having mental illness make their fans feel more comfortable about having a mental illness it shows their fans they are not alone. When a singer sings about depression it has it’s negative and positive outcomes. A negative outcome would be that those strong lyrics could affect their fans and fans would start acting like they are depressed just to relate to their idol. Although, it could spread awareness when singers like ‘Billie Eilish’ express their feelings through their lyrics they spread awareness of mental illness because there are millions and millions of people who don’t know about mental illnesses.

I personally have mixed feelings about how mental illness is being romanticized. It’s a very deep topic and there are many unanswered questions about this topic but I know that many people suffer from depression and they aren’t getting the help they need and they solve their problems in ways that cause them even more pain.